New Testament Rhetoric: An Introduction Guide to the Art of Persuasion in and of the New Testament Paperback – October 16, 2008

If you are a pastor, or teach at a Christian college, or teach the Bible as Literature, or are a well-read layperson, I can't speak highly enough of this lucidly-written book. Witherington, in one chapter (2), analyzes in detail the application of the rhetorical triangle (pathos, ethos, logos); the three species of argument (forensic, deliberative, and epideictic); the Attic and Asian schools of rhetoric and in which gospels/epistles they are employed; the classical and postmodern differences in rhetorical approach to the Bible; the five element structure of rhetorical (from exordium to peroratio); the historical-cultural milieu of the period; the psychology of the age (collectivist) and how that required a different rhetorical approach (oral, not textual), more emotional, emphasizing deliberative argumentation, and addressed to the group not to individuals. There are other minor elements as well that are too numerous to mention (e.g. the importance and distinction of "chreia"). Finally, Witherington he argues the "epistles" typically only have 5% of an epistolary format and, in fact, are not "epistles"—they are rhetorical discourses meant to be delivered and proclaimed. He analyzes the epistolary format and describes how it barely existed at the time but schools of rhetoric were everywhere including in Jerusalem. Fantastic stuff.

Excellent book. It explains the structure of the New Testament and and helps the reader better understand the intent of the writers. Every Christian should familiarize themselves with the content of this book.

It's impossible to really understand the New Testament without understanding the cultural background of those who wrote it.Witherington, who is always good, manages to explain how rhetoric was used in language that is accessible for even the most casual student of the New Testament.Make no mistake about it, the ancient world relied more on orality than the written word. Rhetoric was considered one of the most basic of educational lessons; indeed, Witherington argues that "most of the NT owes far more to rhetoric ..than it ever owed to the nascent practice of writing letter essays" (p 5).There are many examples of rhetorical devices used by Paul and others. Luke, using the most elegant Greek in the NT, indicates how "Stephen's demise closely parallels that of his master Jesus" (p 55). Witherington argues that many scholars have stumbled badly when trying to interpret Stephen's speech, because of a lack of knowledge of the standard rhetorical devices in ancient times. (Bultmann, of course, flies to mind).One consideration to ponder is that literacy must have been "a criteria for Christian leadership in the early church" (p 97). It's clear that all the NT writers had been well educated, and were likely to have been among the top 5-10% in regards to educational background.Ben Sira had insisted that all male children be taught to read scripture. How many actually did is debatable (for a good book on this subject, see "Reading and Writing in the Time of Jesus".) It is clear from the hodgepodge of Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek inscriptions in Israel at the time that the majority of Jews appear, at least, to have been bilingual. And there is evidence of Greek shorthand as well.Papyrus or animal skins for writing materials were expensive. Churches, following the practices of synagogues, would have had a copy of the gospels and perhaps the epistles to read from during the Eucharistic feast.This would explain how, in 1 Clement from 95 AD and the Epistles of Ignatius from 110 AD, both men quote, not verbatim, but inexactly from scripture, as though they had heard them read aloud many times, but not had a copy at home personally.Witherington goes through many examples of rhetoric in the NT. Paul's epistle to Galatians is the most obviously written in classic rhetorical form. On the other hand, 1 Peter may well have been originally written in Aramaic, using the secretary, Silvanus.Essential reading for anyone with an interest in the NT.

Helpful!

This book is entirely devoted to proving that the NT writers used rhetorical methods and tools to communicate with their audiances and spread the gospel. To be blunt, who cares? I was hoping that the author would show how, being used to hearing "trained rhetoric," the people would interpret the teaching, and thereby help me better understand what the speakers were trying to communicate. Unfortunately, the author provided no such insight and the book is useless to me. I'm sorry I bought it.Additionally, the author goes out of his way to prove his educational credentials by using the most obscure and unfamiliar words possible. I have an EXCELLENT vocabulary, but I still had to look up more than 10 words in the first 50 pages. However, I'm sure the academic community was impressed.